Work Text:
[The dialogue in Bold are Vic's. While the dialogue in Italics are Ito's.]
00:41
Abril 28th, 20XX
Ito's House - Green Town
The sky is partly cloudy. The crescent moon is exposed on some minutes and it gets covered by the clouds, only to return and so on. The night is also a bit cold but bearable. The two are outside nearby the door with some glasses of beer on their hands. Them being sober, Ito is standing, while Vic is sitted down on the ground. The beer bottles are also nearby the two.
“Thanks for allowing me to stay in your house, Ito.”
“No, problem. Vic. Anything to help a fellow member.”
Vic rises his hand with his glass, and Ito catches the meaning of it and with his glass clashes the other one in order to celebrate Vic now living in Ito's house. When the former meteorologist takes a sip, he rises his head, looking at the sky.
“Partly cloudy. Tomorrow’s going to be more so.”
“Oh. So, should I carry a jacket on that day?”
“Yep, but a light one. It is Spring since last week, but the nights can get pretty cold! Like, I checked that it is 12ºC now.”
“You’re really good at what you know. Woah…”
The compliment bitters the former meteorologist. Before he met Ito and WWW, he was the meteorologist of Sky Town. He was really happy with his job, but he became bitter when Mr. Weather was almost completed. He was terminated and got replaced by a weather-controling robot. He became obsolete. He enjoyed the work yet he was replaced…
Fulled of resentment, he joined WWW. Vic wants to show Sky Town that technology can’t replace him.
Ito notices that Vic’s right hand, the one that he’s holding his Sake, is shaking due his resentment.
“I was just doing my job, and greatly, nonetheless! Yet, They didn’t even cared about that! They just wanted that stupid robot to do their job easier…”
The prosecutor looks worried at the fired man now turned terrorist. After all, Ito developed a system that replaces a human judge. He actually starts to feel worried about the consequences of that, that he just sat down nearby Vic and drank his alcoholic beverage.
“I… really feel bad about your situation Vic.”
“I appreciate your sympathy, prosecutor. But it isn’t going to change anything. What can you do? Helping me to recover my job on a legal case against the people in Sky Town due to me being unfairly fired?”
“That’s… Not a bad idea, actually. I can help you with that.”
“But bah. That option is boring. No offense. I have a better plan, even better that I’m part of this organization. They’re going to pay for this, big time!”
The prosecutor is confused by that but he ended up accepting it, while filing his glass with more beer, as well as offering the other one more as well, since he already finished his’. They both started drinking their second glass of beer.
During the second glass, Ito is starting to get a bit dizzy. He's more sensible towards alcohol. Even when alcohol starts to act on him, he tries to remain conscious and not fall down. While Vic is embracing the alcoholic state. And he's stating to playfully move with his glass like he's in a singing tavern. The prosecutor laughs a bit while watching his friend doing it.
"Come on, Ito! Try not to be so be so stiff! Relax!"
"I'm okay, Vic. I still have to close the door when we go back inside. I have the keys."
And without realizing it, Vic puts his hand in one of the pockets of Ito's jacket and picks up his house key.
"Yoink! Now you don't!"
"Hey! Vic!! That's stealing!!"
"Not unless is a friend doing it!!"
"...That's not even a legit good counterargument!"
Vic starts walking away from of Ito with his key while keeping a playful smirk and having fun of playing with him, while the prosecutor runs towards him while not being happy about it. He goes around the yard while Ito goes after him, enjoying the jokey moment. Even in some point, he started to use smoke bombs two times to dissapear and reappear, confusing the prosecutor even more while trying to reach him.
That is until Ito stumbles upon the floor and falls to the ground, facing his face to the grass for a moment. Vic's face quickly turned from a happy playful smirk and even laughter to a complete regretful shock face with his eyes wide open. He quickly goes to help Ito getting up of the ground. The prosecutor's face is dirty with a mix of dirt and tears of pain due to the fall. His usual smile dissapeared as well.
"Ito... I'm so sorry..."
"No. No... that's fine..."
"Ito! Seriously! I didn't thought on that outcome!"
"No... that's okay. I should've been more careful..."
While he's not supposed to do it, Ito wipes his eyes with his hand, taking out some dust, and regret dominates with the former weatherman, that he quickly goes inside Ito's house for cleaning wipes. Goes back outside and gives the wipes to him. Ito thanks Vic, while using the wipes to clean his face. But even after cleaning himself out and even wiping out the dirt out of his clothes, his smile is now gone.
"I'll had to wash my clothing after this... thank goodness is not my work attire..."
He was wearing a turtleneck long-sleeved sweater for the cold of the night, after all.
And just walks back to the door and has another glass of beer, the third one. Vic is starting to feel concerned over him, as well as feeling more emotional. Yet he decided to continue drinking with his friend.
The third glass ends up affecting them even more while the night passes more minutes. The sky gets more cloudy and the even colder wind blows their hair. The pain of the fall gets obscured by the alcohol acting on Ito, who's now not longer looking at the sky. Meanwhile Vic continues watching it. Silence dominated the ambient after that fall, which makes the meteorologist feel empty. He feels that there's supposed to be a conversation, and he decided to start. Little did he knew that he'll embrace his emotions on it due to the alcohol affecting his speech. Now he's unfiltered.
"How does it feel still having a job?"
"In what sense, Vic?"
"Not being fired by the job you studied hard for it?"
"... Vic, just tell me you're angry at losing your job"
"Oh course I am, Ito!! What did you expect me to feel?! Happy?! I studied for my job! I'm sure you also had to endure nights studying, especially since you're a prosecutor! So all of those years studying my butt off, finally reaching my job with a decent income and stability, only to it to crumble in pieces thanks to that weather-CONTROLLING robot!"
"It seems that you're envious-"
"Is because I AM!!"
While the honesty is appreciated, Ito is starting to feel uncomfortable towards the way the conversation is going. But without expecting it, the fuming Vic grabs him from the arms and forces him to get closer to him, so that he can hear his frustrations clearly.
“I'm really angry that I lost my capacity to get a home! I lost my income!! I became Homeless!! Because they throw me to the trash to replace me with a DAMNED ROBOT!! At least you STILL have a job, an income, food, and a home!! You have a purpose!! I have nowhere to go now, besides the organization! I am now purposeless!”
Those words punched Ito through his heart. Purposeless… Feeling purposeless.
The whole reason he joined WWW on the first place, that he was feeling that even if he tried his hardest, criminals will be appearing and rising. After realizing that, his life dream, his purpose, was shattered into pieces. His whole purpose was to make a society without crime, and finally realizing how utopic and impossible that dream is, broke his soul. He started to feel purposeless, covering his despair under a smile. An empty smile. He was still working and bringing criminals into justice, but now he’s not putting his heart and soul into it, since it felt that it is meaningless continuing a vicious cycle with no end to it. He became a purposeless man trapped on that vicious cycle, and that old man convinced him that his dream CAN be reached, only if he bended his vision to fit that man’s.
Ito stopped talking in response to those words, and Vic notices it. But still being carried away by his resentment intensified by the alcohol, grabs the prosecutor by the shoulders and forces him to look at him in the eyes.
“Seriously, Prosecutor Ito!! You can’t understand what am I going through!! Like, imagine if you didn’t developed that tree of yours, and they decided to make your job obsolete, replacing your job with that damned tree!! That’s how it feels right now!”
Ito didn’t respond that, mostly because he feels that answering it wouldn’t help anyways. In some point, he even felt guilt of replacing the judges with the JudgeTree. But right now, the word Purposeless is ruminating on his mind.
“Say something!!”
“… …I have the right to remind silent.”
That answer makes the former meteorologist fuming, like he felt that he was being insulted when in reality, that wasn’t the case.
“I know that you’re following the law, prosecutor. But remember, you’re a masive hypocrite. You’re part of what people call, a terrorist organization!”
Being called a hypocrite shocks the prosecutor, so he tries to overturn that claim.
“But… We can make the law to be in our side!”
“I sure hope that does happen! I really don’t want my revenge to go in vain, since the other guys deserve it!”
The prosecutor remained silent. Until he couldn’t bear the thought of being a hypocrite. He is one, after all.
“I am a hypocrite…”
Vic fakes his surprised when Ito admits being called an hypocrite. He remained with that fuming annoyance, until he sees Ito’s exposed eye starting to liberate a tear. And then a second one. And the tears started to flow on his two eyes.
“I wanted to keep my dream alive... And I ended up becoming what I wanted to destroy...”
The prosecutor's despair is fully showing, sitting down, loweing his head and covering his face with his arms, reposing those on his knees. The former meteorologist sees what he has done and fully regrets his words. He broke him.
"Ito... I didn't expect to hurt you"
"No. You're absolutely right. I don't deserve my position. I do not deserved to be respected at all... I now wonder, why I haven't quit yet..."
His worries about losing his job are now overshadowed by seeing his new friend in a painful state. This is the first time he sees him broke down the usual justice talk.
"Ito. People are admiring you. You're THE prosecutor of Green Town! You created the JudgeTree!"
"But for what? I haven't seen crime dissapear thanks to me"
"They did lowered down thanks to your works!"
"Again... For what? I can't see these goals meaningful right now."
"But I do!"
And a brief silence of reflection stops the conversartion for a moment.
"Vic. I'll admit. You envy me for getting a job. I'll admit that I envy you as well"
That confesion left the former meteorologist feel dumbfounded. He didn't expected to see that coming.
"Why would you envy me?! I lost my job by a robot!"
"At least you can FEEL something about your current job. I don't longer feel something for mine's. I don't have a purpose now in this world..."
That reason struck Vic in a hard position. He mostly spoke about his desire of his job and getting his desired revenge, but he haven't heard of Ito's desires. And hearing that he doesn't feel anything for his job, Vic finally sees what Ito really is. A lost man with a broken purpose.
The realization makes Vic struggle to come up with good answers, especially when it comes to Ito being in such of a despairing state.
"I don't know! For the money? For the fame?"
"I do not care about the fame, Vic. I only cared about justice. Cared, past sense. Now... I don't know what I'm still here. Even the JudgeTree can work while I'll be gone. It's a lawful machine, while I'm just a purposeless human"
"Ito! Don't say that!"
"I lost my purpose for a long time ago, Vic. I lost it when I realized my purpose is impossible to achieve. Like- Can you actually imagine every Electopian agreeing with my dream of a society without crime? That's impossible. Exhibit A, WWW STILL exist. And I'M a member of it now..."
The awkward truth of that last sentence gave Vic a noticeable ick, but it was minor compared to the massive guilt he's feeling right now. Something strong considerating he considers himself as a shameless person.
"Eventually people will figure out my corruption, will forget my name, and I'll be underground, with nobody remembering me... Not even my parents. They’re going to be dissapointed at me, and will forget about my existence. I can picture my funeral, nobody coming. I'll be alone, after all."
After seeing that, Ito's despair makes him cover his face even more, burying it in his arms and the darkness. The anger that the weatherman is getting over the prosecutor's words, makes him almost shread his teeth.
"If we're going down, We're going down... Together."
The prosecutor's reaction to that is from his initial resignment, turning into a tearful surprise. Slowly he uncovers his face, exposing his tearful surprise, looking at the weatherman, who's confidentally smiling.
"If we win and if we lose, you're not going to be alone. I'll be with you."
At a moment, the moon showed up in middle of the night, illuminating the weatherman in front of Ito's eyes. By that, Ito's smile returns to his face. But instead of an empty pokerface smile, he's genuinally smiling of relief. That he can trust him. His new housemate. His new friend.
"Vic... Thank you. So much..."
"After all. You helped me, so I'll be helping you"
While saying it, Vic offers his hand to pick Ito up, and he accepts it. Takes his hands and he tries gets up. But the alcohol strikes them again, but in this time physically, making them struggle to support each other. And as a result, Vic falls down to the ground with Ito. But this time, they both started to laugh. It was an awkward moment compared to the previous fall, that they couldn't help each other but to laugh. Ito laughs quietly but his laughter is overshadowed by Vic's shameless loud laughter, and instinctly puts his arm around Ito's neck, making him closer to him.
"Well. It seems that I'll be the perfect housemate!!"
"Hahaha! Welcome to my home, Vic!"
"Did you mean OUR Home?! Just kidding!"
"I mean, you're not wrong!"
Vic jumps in surprise of Ito taking his joke seriously, but he loves it. Now, he has a brand new home with a brand new mate. While Ito, he now has someone, outside of his all-trusted NetNavi; who he can truly trust. A new friend, a new important person on his life.
They both tried to get up with actual success. While the alcohol is still present, they stopped drinking for a while that it's starting to slowly lower the effects on them.
"We must go inside. It's now getting colder."
"Can confirm! Let's go!"
"I only have a case tomorrow. Nothing too eventful."
"Better bring the money!"
"I do get 10000 Zennies for every case."
"Damn, dude! I actually expected more than that!"
"It's not that much, but I can't complain. I do save and I can pay the important stuff."
"I hope they can give you a rise"
"Really? I said I'm okay with it!" And Ito liberates an awkward laugh.
With a smile on their faces, they go inside their home now, ready for a new day.